Unearthed - Series Two

The tomb of Tutankhamun is unique in the Valley of the Kings and historians are desperate to understand why.  For decades King Tut’s tomb was a complete mystery: why was it built so small, why was it so sparsely decorated compared to its neighbours and how did it escape the clutches of ancient grave robbers?  Using the latest technology, teams of archaeologists are finally finding the answers. With rare access and stunning CGI, Unearthed proves why an untimely death, a calamitous burial and an astonishing force of nature led to a minor king rising to become the most famous of them all.

New investigations are slowly uncovering the secret history of the world’s most iconic monument. 

The Sphinx has mystified historians for generations but an extraordinary new investigation is about to reveal which pharaoh the Sphinx was built for.  Forensic work at the nearby Sphinx temples has uncovered an astonishing religious connection to the Sun.  Was the Sphinx part of a elaborate machine to resurrect the Pharaoh in the afterlife?  Digging deep below the desert sand scientists find that the Sphinx once gazed over a vast artificial lake and weird half carved shelves, uncovered at the perimeter of the Sphinx enclosure suggest this famous sculpture was never finished – but why? 

Archaeologists are unearthing dark secrets beneath Mexico’s most mysterious ancient site.  Until recently, historians knew almost nothing about the long lost culture that built the giant pyramids of Teotihuacan. Digging deeper than ever into these colossal 2,000-year-old structures, scientists are now uncovering evidence of brutal human sacrifice.  Many of the victims appear to have decapitated, others buried alive. Secret tunnels stretch deep below the pyramids filled with treasures and painted with the glimmer of gold.  Who were the people that built Teotihuacan, what was the source of their wealth and why was this city so suddenly abandoned 1400 years ago?

The Egyptian site of Karnak was the largest religious complex in the ancient world.  Constructed over three thousand five hundred years ago, this giant labyrinth of temples and halls was a political and religious powerbase for the pharaohs.

But what weird rituals went on behind its high walls? Unearthing grisly human remains and using the latest technologies, archaeologists are finally revealing the truth: how a jealous pharaoh destroyed the legacy of his own father, how Karnak’s largest hall was designed to house the gods themselves and how the unstoppable rise of a new religion brought this monumental site to its knees.

Angkor Watt in Cambodia is the world’s largest temple, but why did the Khmer civilization build this enormous Hindu shrine in the middle of the jungle?  Laser technology reveals the astonishing truth: Angkor Watt was the center of a long lost mega-city and the beating heart of a mighty empire. 

Archaeologists hack through the jungle to reveal this sprawling metropolis and unearth how it thrived on the trade of rare iron.  Blowing the temple apart exposes how water was the key to its success and how it’s secret true purpose may have been as a resurrection machine for a godlike King.

Stirling Castle in Scotland - one of Europe’s most celebrated forts and the legendary home of King Arthur’s round table.  Scotland’s great kings claimed to be descended from Arthur – but why?

Historians follow the trail to France where they uncover how Arthur was used as a political weapon in Scotland’s bloody wars of independence. The gruesome discovery of a shattered skeleton inside the castle challenges the popular accounts of Stirling’s most famous battle, immortalized in the movie Braveheart. And could strange melted stones uncovered close to Stirling provide evidence that this famous site was the scene of a brutal thousand year old war-crime?

Stonehenge is the ancient world’s most famous and mysterious monument. Its origins and purpose have puzzled historians for centuries.

Why was this extraordinary monument built on a seemingly ordinary plain? Who visited the stones? And what did they do there? Now, using laser scanning, carbon dating and forensic technologies, archaeologists are finally piecing together the full story of the stones. The result is a tale of ancient magic and arcane ritual, acts of remembrance and brutal murder, that reveals Stonehenge was more famous and more ancient than anyone ever imagined. 

The Taj Mahal is famous as the world’s most beautiful building – but could this Indian ode to love hide dark secrets?  The grieving Mugal Emperor Shah Jahan, famously built the Taj Mahal as a tribute to his dead wife – but new investigations are writing a surprising story of power and betrayal. 

Is the layout of the mausoleum and its gardens a carefully concealed proclamation of religious beliefs?  A team of top architects attempt to solve the riddle of the Taj’s towering dome and could a newly discovered flaw at the heart of Taj finally explain its impossible beauty?

Machu Picchu in Peru – the famous lost city of the Incas.  Archaeologists discovered this mountain-top city 100 years ago, but its purpose remains a hotly debated mystery. Was it a religious observatory or a holiday retreat for the Emperor? 

Stunning CGI blows apart the city’s granite buildings to reveal bizarre religious carvings and gruesomely deformed skeletons - could they hold a crucial clue as to why the city was built?   A newly uncovered network of roads appears to place Machu Picchu as a strategic outpost for the Inca Emperor Pachacuti, but mysterious rock art suggests the site’s origins may be far older.

The Terracotta Army in Xi’an, China is perhaps the greatest archaeological discovery in the last 50 years, but it remains shrouded in mystery. Historians now use 3D scanning technology to reconstruct the shattered remains of the warriors and reveal the dark secrets of a super-tomb built at the birth of China. 

The discovery of real weapons and bizarre stone-plated armor amongst the statues reveals the supernatural enemy the army was designed to face, and the discovery of dismembered skeletons thrown into pits, hint at the violent struggle for power that followed the death of China’s first emperor.

The Colosseum is the greatest icon of the world’s most powerful Empire. It was an arena of death and glory, and the source of epic legends. Now archaeologists are using new techniques to solve ancient mysteries about this spectacular ruin.

Why was it built here? And why did it collapse? With unique access to the only Gladiator bones ever discovered, Unearthed reveals astonishing new evidence for how they lived and died. Stunning CGI solves the Colosseum’s most incredible legend, of naval battles held inside its walls. And clues within the walls of the Colosseum answer ancient riddles about the rise and fall of the Roman empire itself.

Petra is an ancient and enigmatic city, carved from the rock of Jordan’s desert. Hidden at the end of a winding chasm, it is famous for its extraordinary beauty. But for decades it has baffled archaeologists. Who were the mysterious people that built it, how did they found a civilisation in the arid desert, and why did they suddenly disappear? 

Now, the latest laser-scanning techniques are resurrecting the lives of Petra’s forgotten people. With stunning CGI, Unearthed will bring back to life the city’s astonishing monuments, to reveal what happened to the greatest lost city of the ancient world.